Shortly after sunrise we left the Rama family where we had stayed the last
two nights. After saying goodbye to these friendly people we traveled back
in the direction of San Juan del Norte, and for the last time we could enjoy
the nature around the Indio River. Before we would really leave the area, however,
we had another attraction to visit: the Manatee Lagoon.

Manatees – also known as sea cows – are large, rare water mammals
that live in small numbers at the Atlantic side of Nicaragua, mostly in remote
lagoons or rivers. Here, at the Indio River, there are several of these remote
areas where these beautiful animals can be found, and one of these areas is
called the Manatee Lagoon. This site was about three hours located from our
base camp, but it was on the way back to San Juan del Norte.

Shortly after we left it started raining, and this time it was a real tropical
rain with water pouring down from the sky. Except for the few smart people
in the boat who had brought raincoats (not me), we were drenched by the sudden
rain. It kept raining for over half an hour, but then all of a sudden the clouded
sky changed dramatically and the sun appeared again. It was about two hours
after we left, just after the rain, when I suddenly realized that this day
was my birthday! We had been traveling away from the rest of the world for
a while now, and I had just completely forgotten about this event! It was definitely
a special birthday, here on the pristine Indio River in Río San Juan.

All of a sudden Hilario pointed to a tiny creek that was connected to the
Indio River, and he told us that this creek would lead to the Manatee Lagoon.
We had bought an underwater case for our camera with the primary purpose to
use it in case we were able to see manatees here in the Indio Maíz Reserve.
We had therefore brought this equipment along when we visited the Rama family,
but now came the time to prepare the camera. We asked Hilario how long it would
take to the lagoon. “About five minutes”, he answered, so we set
up the underwater case and got ready to go into the water. But first we had
to actually get to the lagoon.

The creek that we entered was very narrow and full of tree trunks, plants,
and other obstacles. We therefore slowly made our way to the lagoon, with Hilario
guiding us again and using his paddle to avoid hitting large trunks. At one
point we had to enter another, even narrower creek. There seemed to be no way
to get through, because plants and fallen trunks blocked pretty much the whole
creek. Armed with a machete, Hilario started to cut tree branches and move
the trunk so that we could pass. Enrique helped him with another machete, and
at some point everybody was one way or another trying to clear the plants and
trunks. We were finally able to pass this difficult point, but the rest of
the creek also posed similar problems. We could only paddle slowly and we had
to be continuously on the lookout for low-hanging tree branches. More than
once we had to duck to avoid the trees. Finding the lagoon took already over
half an hour, so somebody curiously asked Hilario how much longer it would
take. Laughter arose from the boat when he answered “About five minutes”.

It now indeed took not long to reach the lagoon, and after this complicated
journey we finally reached the small, calm lagoon. The water was not as clear
as we hoped, and only if the manatees surfaced we would be able to see them.
We started by moving around the lagoon in the boat, hoping that the animals
would be curious and come to the boat. After ten minutes of circling the lagoon
I started doubting if they would be here at all. Then, all of a sudden we saw
signs of the manatees at the other side of the lagoon: we saw groups of bubbles
coming from below, clearly marking the area where the manatees swam, somewhere
down below. We rapidly moved our boat to the other side, but here all signs
of the manatees disappeared. But we knew for sure that the manatees were here,
in the lagoon! Ten more minutes passed, and we continued our strategy of circling
around in order to create lure the great animals from below. Every now and
then the bubbles appeared at the surface, but these were the only signs of
the manatees that we saw. At one point we decided to go into the water, and
armed with the camera and underwater casing I observed the lagoon below the
water surface.

The visibility was not great, but if a manatee would pass by I would for sure
be able to take a picture of the animal. The first minutes in the water were
exciting and a little creepy, because here I was, inside a small lagoon in
the middle of the forest with several manatees somewhere around me. When I
dived to check out the deeper waters, I was shocked to see a yellow, moving
substance down below. In a second dive this turned out to be the blubbery bottom
of the lagoon.

The water was great and the manatee hunt was definitely exciting, but after
twenty more minutes of cruising around the lagoon the bubbles disappeared from
our sight and Hilario said that they probably left through the same creek we
came from. Well, we got close and at least we saw some signs of the manatees,
but unfortunately we did not get to see the manatees this time.

Our return trip was a little faster than when we came, because now the largest
obstacles were more or less cleared. On the way back we did see an interesting
natural phenomenon: two kissing fish. Two small rainbow bass (I think) appeared
to be kissing, and they were not at all disturbed when we passed by. At that
same spot, we saw again bubbles come up, and Hilario said that these were from
the manatees, who were swimming down the creek as well. There was not much
we could do though, because the water was not clear at all, so there was no
way that we could spot them.

After this adventurous detour we ended up at the Indio River once again, and
we continued our journey to San Juan del Norte. The only other people we saw
along the way were some people in canoes and a guard at MARENA who checked
our papers at the control station that we passed. Gradually, the river widened
and we could travel at a higher speed again. We were getting closer to San
Juan del Norte when Manuel steered the boat to a small entry to the left. Here
we saw a sign: Welcome to the Blue Lagoon.

The Blue Lagoon is one of the attractions close to San Juan del Norte, and
we had originally planned to visit this lagoon in the preceding days. Our change
in plans made this impossible, which is why we visited the lagoon on our way
back from the reserve. The Blue Lagoon is a small lagoon (yet it is larger
than the Manatee Lagoon, and definitely better accessible) that is perfect
for swimming. It’s close to the town, so people from San Juan del Norte
frequently visit the lagoon to bathe and relax. The water is very warm and
there is a huge, floating buoy-like device that was intensively used by some
children swimming in the lagoon.

After a brief visit we continued our tour and in ten minutes we arrived back
in San Juan del Norte. We lunched quickly and then hopped in the boat again
for our next visit: Greytown. Or, better said: the cemeteries of Greytown.
After the original city got burned down during the Contra-war, they only remains
consist of four different cemeteries and a few building foundations, nothing
more.

The town is located about ten minutes in boat from San Juan del Norte. Before
we went to this place, however, we first passed another historical site: the
dredge in the lagoon. This gigantic dredge was placed during the Gold Rush
by Cornelius Vanderbilt, who wanted to construct an inter-oceanic canal using
the San Juan River and the two Nicaraguan lakes to connect the two oceans.
The canal never got finished and the dream of this North American businessman
was never fulfilled, but there are still several signs that remind of this
past. In addition to one of the dredges, there is also another very clear sign
of this gigantic project: the canal. Although it was never finished, the project
did start and a small part of the canal was dug and nowadays appears to be
a regular but very straight river branch.

We passed by the dredge and the unfinished canal before we docked at a tiny,
wooden wharf. A corroded sign welcomed us to the historical remains of Greytown.
We walked through the forest before we entered the large, open area what once
formed the sparkling city center of Greytown. Now there was only grass and
a couple other rusty signs that identified the four small, deteriorated cemeteries.

There were different graveyards for the different social groups. The British
had their own graveyard, and there were separate cemeteries for the militaries,
the catholic, and the Freemasons, who apparently also lived in Greytown. The
graves date back to the 19th century, and it’s really a glance at the
past to read these old tombstones.

From a more recent date is a private, grassy landing strip that is located
right next to the graveyards, which forms a sharp contrast with the old, historical
remains of the city.

After browsing the site, we returned to San Juan del Norte, but not after
we passed another important landmark: the estuary of the San Juan River. We
briefly saw this when we came from Sábalos in the public boat, but now
we went there during full daylight to check out the place where this famous
river meets the Caribbean Sea. The place as such is not spectacular, but the
idea to be standing at the end of the San Juan River, all the way down at the
Caribbean Coast, does make it an interesting place.

Back in San Juan del Norte we dined and also visited Hilario. We found him
in the Rama-part of the town, where there was no electricity and the houses
were made from wood. After he showed us some nice handicrafts that the Ramas
produce, we thanked him for the splendid trip and said goodbye.

We finally had a goodbye-drink with Fernando, the traveling Catalan, and the
Dutch couple, Tim and Vera, to mark the end of our trip to the Indio Maíz
Biological Reserve.